PRESS RELEASE

My Father’s House: the architecture of cultural heritage

30th October – 11th December 2010 Featuring work by five emerging Middle Eastern artists and three UK photographers – including Winner of the World Press Photo of the Year 2007 Tim Hetherington – the exhibition uses large-scale photography, audio-visual media and film to examine how the built environment reflects the people, the community, society and the nations of the Gulf States and Arabian Peninsula. Each of the artists has focused on an individual sphere of investigation and specific countries in the Gulf States and Arabian Peninsula.

Commissioned by the British Council, My Father’s House approaches the subject of cultural identity from the inside out. The exhibition hopes to remind its audiences to look at the spaces they inhabit, and engage in the debate about development of their built environment, to ensure that it reflects a true sense of their personal and communal identity.

Image © Camille Zakharia image © Hazel Thompson

Image © Lamya Gargash Image © Tim Hetherington My Father’s House has been touring in the Middle East since February 2009 and has been displayed in Oman; Bahrain; Jeddah and Riyadh in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. This will be the first time the exhibition has been shown in Europe and the United Kingdom. This will be the 100th exhibition presented by the Brunei Gallery, SOAS. BRUNEI GALLERY, SOAS OPEN: Tuesday – Saturday 10.30 – 17.00 THORNHAUGH STREET CLOSED: Sunday and Monday RUSSELL SQUARE ADMISSION FREE LONDON T. 020 7898 4046 (recorded information) WC1H 0XG F. 020 7898 4259 E. gallery@soas.ac.uk

For further details of the exhibition and events please visit www.soas.ac.uk/gallery

Artists: Wed Abduljawad Hafiz Ali Boushra Almutawakil Lamya Gargash Camille Zakharia Tim Hetherington Tim Loveless Hazel Thompson Exhibition Curators: Sean Williams Jamal al Moosawi-Hassanovitch Lucy Till-Awny